The present invention relates to connector elements, such as those used with power supplies for personal computers and the like, and, more particularly, to connector elements that provide protection against connecting the connector elements to certain other connector elements, such as inadvertently connecting a 110V power supply connector element to a 220V power cord.
Power supplies such as are typically found in devices such as personal computers mostly presently use switcher technology to convert AC power input to lower DC voltages. For example, in personal computers, input AC power is usually either 110V, e.g., in the U.S., or 220V, e.g., in most European countries. The computer's digital circuits typically use 3.3V and 5V, and 12V is used to run motors in disk drives and fans.
Many power supplies are adapted to operate at either 110V or 220V. For example, an electrical device used in the U.S. operates with 110V AC input power. For some devices, if the user travels abroad and plugs the computer into 220V AC input power, internal circuitry will automatically accommodate the different input power. For other devices, the user manually operates a switch on the power supply so that the correct circuitry will be used depending upon what the input voltage is. The automatic circuitry tends to be more expensive than the manual switch.
If an electrical device that is set up to operate with 110V AC input voltage is plugged into 220V AC, the electrical device may be seriously damaged. Users of electrical devices having manual switches will often accidentally fail to set the switch on the device properly, often leading to damage of such devices. Accordingly, it is increasingly common for electrical devices to be provided with the internal circuitry necessary to automatically accommodate whatever type of power is input, adding to the cost of the devices. It is desirable to provide low cost protection against connection of electrical device power supplies to the wrong type of input power.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a power supply arrangement for an electrical device includes a power supply that is switchable between a first mode and a second mode, a first connector element of the power supply, the first connector element being one of a male and a female connector element for mating with a corresponding second connector element, the second connector element being one of a female and a male connector element, respectively, and a guard member disposed on the first connector element, the guard member being movable between a first position in which the first connector element is adapted to mate with any corresponding second connector elements and the power supply is in the first mode and a second position in which the first connector element is only adapted to mate with specially configured second connector elements and the power supply is in the second mode.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an electrical device includes a power supply that is switchable between a first mode and a second mode, the power supply including a first connector element, the first connector element being one of a male and a female connector element for mating with a corresponding second connector element, the second connector element being one of a female and a male connector element, respectively, the power supply also including a guard member disposed on the first connector element, the guard member being movable between a first position in which the first connector element is adapted to mate with any corresponding second connector elements and the power supply is in the first mode and a second position in which the first connector element is only adapted to mate with specially configured second connector elements and the power supply is in the second mode, and electrical equipment powered through the power supply.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a connector element assembly includes a connector element, the connector element being one of a male and a female connector element for mating with a corresponding mating connector element, the mating connector element being one of a female and a male connector element, respectively, and a guard member disposed on the connector element, the guard member being movable between a first position in which the connector element is adapted to mate with any corresponding mating connector elements and a second position in which the connector element is only adapted to mate with specially configured mating connector elements.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a connector element assembly includes a connector element, the connector element being one of a male and a female connector element for mating with a corresponding mating connector element, the mating connector element being one of a female and a male connector element, respectively, and a configuration on the connector element for cooperating with a guard member disposed on the mating connector element, the configuration permitting the connector element to mate with the mating connector element, the guard member preventing the mating connector element from mating with connector elements not having the configuration.